Second, many teachers are refusing to take a deal and make the DOE prove their weak cases in a 3020-a hearing. Your statement of fewer than 100 is not true. It is much more according to NYSUT.

He advanced the notion that the 20th century was an American century. He went further, asserting that perhaps the first half of the 21st century would be the same. But as for the last part, with China and India catching up and outpacing us, we could well witness the end of American leadership in the world.

The main reason he presented for loss of leadership was the diminution of creativity in American education, the very reason so many current world leaders chose to be educated here where American schools led the world. As I see it, the overreliance on math and literacy test scores as the measure of success, (important as they are) and the script driven curricula that are imposed upon teachers, are largely responsible for this loss of imagination in all areas of the school curriculum. When I speak as a Dean of The School of Education at St. John’s University, I can capture and hold an audience until I open this subject. It is at this point that a gauze curtain descends over the eyes — and, I think, minds — of the audiences.
We are now witnessing at least the third generation of teachers and school leaders whose own education lacked creativity and imagination from early childhood through graduate school.